Committee hears testimony in proposed change to election calendar

Supporters of a bill to consolidate city and school board elections onto federal and state ballots told lawmakers it would increase voter turnout, while opponents argued against provisions in the bill that would make the local elections partisan and require schools to provide space for polling places.

If Senate Bill 171 becomes law, primary elections for city councils and school boards would be held in August, with winners advancing to the November general election.

At present, school board and municipal elections are decided in nonpartisan contests with March primaries and April runoffs. State and federal elections are held in the fall.

During the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee hearing Wednesday, seven bill proponents testified for more than 50 minutes and two opponents were allowed to testify in the final 15 minutes of the meeting. Committee Chairman Mitch Holmes, R-St. John, said additional opponent testimony will be allowed Thursday.

Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, said SB 171 would encourage more people to vote in city and school board elections.

“There is a lack of citizen participation, and it’s an amazingly large amount of money to spend with very few voters’ input into it, whether it’s cities or school districts,” Barker said. “What we would like to see in this bill is aligning the spring and fall elections so all the voters turn out and they get to vote on all the positions.”

Mark Tallman, associate executive director for advocacy at the Kansas Association of School Boards, expressed concerns with injecting partisanship into municipal elections. Currently candidates for local offices are not identified as Democrats or Republicans on the ballot.

“Our members have repeatedly voted that they do not favor a change in law for several reasons,” Tallman said. “We hear from local boards, and they believe we are better served by keeping education somewhat nonpartisan, even though in many cases people do know that parties can get involved.”

According to Secretary of State Kris Kobach, between 2008-2013, local spring election voter turnout ranged from a low of 6.2 percent in Sedgwick County to a high of 56 percent in Sherman County. In comparison, fall election turnout during that same time period ranged from 37.3 percent to 85.8 percent. According to the Sedgwick County Election Office, about 67 percent of registered voters participated in fall 2012 elections.

Wichita school board member Joy Eakins testified in favor of moving the elections, but opposed part of the bill that would allow county election officers to require schools to schedule an in-service day so that school buildings could be used as polling places.

Eakins said taking time from schools is detrimental to students and teachers.

“You’re asking a person who has no accountability to the community (county election officer) for the education of their students or for what happens in a school day to be able to commandeer buildings that belong to students, buildings that were built by the taxpayers of our communities to educate their students,” Eakins said. “They do a great job, but they shouldn’t have a say over when school’s in session.”

In a news release last week, committee chair Holmes said SB 171 would help reduce the influence teachers unions have in local elections. He said unionized teachers can make a majority of voters in the current off-cycle elections because they’re able to organize while overall voter turnout is low.

“The information that we have showed that the timing of the election is the single biggest variable that affects voter turnout,” Holmes said. “There are other peripheral things that can be done, but that one by itself is the most effective.”

Eakins, a Republican, defended teachers’ participation in school elections.

“I can’t say to what extent they control the elections, but certainly teachers would be interested in voting because it’s something they’re passionate about, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Eakins said. “It’s just who they are.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2015 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Committee hears testimony in proposed change to election calendar."